That One Phrase About Absence and the Heart
by techManticore
Summary: Makishima comes home for a few weeks and is anxious to see how much his favorite underclassman has changed.


It's purely coincidental that the Inter-High qualifiers land on the same morning as your first full day back in Chiba. You weren't even planning on watching the race but Tadokoro's text messages were insistent that you watch the first years, or rather third years now, performance. You're not really sure why he was so demanding. Imaizumi, Naruko, and Onoda were all talented cyclists. You know that they would qualify for the Inter-High and probably come in first as well. You figure that Tadokoro wants to see how Naruko is performing in his final year and just wants you to tag along so he won't be bored. Which is fine. You were planning on meeting up with Tadokoro sometime anyway and a good race is always enjoyable. And this way you'll also get to see Onoda. You've missed him.

It's not like he's the only person you thought about while you were studying in England. You've missed your other former teammates, especially Tadokoro, and Toudou too (though with his constant e-mails Toudou is kind of hard to miss). But for some reason Onoda sticks out in your mind. You haven't seen since you left the country and you find that you're anxious to see how much he's grown in the year and a half that you've been away.

"You're late," Tadokoro grumbles as you gently elbow your way through the crowd of people around him. You aren't right up in front of the track like you'd prefer, but you are pretty close and can see the track okay from your position. "They're on the next to last lap."

"Sorry. I got a little tied up." Toudou somehow caught wind of your arrival earlier than you planned and wouldn't let you hang up until you made plans to meet up. "Besides the last few laps are the only ones that really count in these kinds of races," you scoff.

But Tadokoro isn't listening and seems to forget your tardiness in favor of looking toward the curve of the track. "Here they come. Our guys were second at the start of this lap. They should be passing the leaders here pretty soon." Sure enough as the racers come around the bend Sohoku's team is right on the tail of the leading school. It surprises you how much the sight of Naruko pulling Imaizumi and Onoda along reminds of your own third year that you almost miss Onoada's huge grin when he spots you and Tadokoro. You raise your hand and give a small grin in response, but you don't think he sees it. He's already facing his teammates again with a fierce look in his eye that still made your heart jolt. _What an embarrassing thought_, you groan to yourself.

You think he might have gotten taller. But you're not sure. He always has looked bigger on his bike. Has his hair gotten longer? How much has he grown since you left?

Neither you nor Tadokoro are surprised when Imaizumi, Naruko, and Onoda take first, second, and third place, beating the other competitors by a large margin.

Ten minutes later you hear a shrill cry of "Makishima-san!" cut through the din of the crowd and a pair of thin arms are wrapped tightly around your middle. You instinctively recoil and wish you hadn't.

"Sorry Makishima-san!" Onoda says immediately backing off. "Was that too much? I know you don't really like to be touched too much and-"

You laugh a little and throw your arm around him easily, cutting off his panicked mumbling. _Barely changed at all_, you think as you calm him. You choose not to think about how his words caused your chest to tighten with affection. Onoda quickly lapses in to a mostly one-sided conversation about the current condition of the club and you remember how easy it is being with Onoda because he doesn't really expect much from you in way of contributing to the conversation. His incessant chatter is nice and surprisingly relaxing. And he seems to be a doing a good job of taking care of the team.

"How long are you going to be here?" Onoda asks eventually.

"A few weeks probably I have some time off from school but I work for my brother so I can't stay too long," you answer.

"Oh! You work for your brother? That's so cool! What do you do?"

"Ah well, nothing much. He owns a clothing company and I usually just run errands for everyone, but sometimes my brother lets me help him design clothes I guess. I'm not that good at it yet. My brother's way better. My stuff is still kind of weird and gross."

"I doubt it!" Onoda said confidently, causing you to look at him with a surprised scowl-like expression that probably looks angry more than anything. "I-I just mean that nothing you do is gross!" he quickly adds when he sees your face, "I bet your designs are really good!" At this point you still haven't said anything and your silence makes him change the subject.

"A-anyway the reason I asked how long you're staying was…well I-I was hoping we could ride together again sometime?"

You give another short laugh and grin at him "Sure. I'd love to ride with you again."

xxx

Two days later you and Onoda are climbing Mt. Minegayama and it's just like all the other times you've climbed together except, now that you're riding with him again, you can easily see that Onoda has definitely gotten stronger. And for some reason that makes you so happy. You can't help the smile that creeps onto your face as you push yourself to go even faster, even though you are reaching your limit. Onoda easily matches your pace. You can hear his panting breaths as his raises his cadence again. And then he is right beside you. Your heart jolts at the sight of him. His smile is so huge and his eyes are so bright. You think you can hear him singing to himself under his breath. And this situation is so similar to your last climb together. You remember all of the emotions from that day, and the memories spur you on. You accelerate again and manage to beat Onoda to the top by a centimeter.

"That was so fun," Onoda says happily, still out of breath from the climb. He's sprawled on a grassy portion of Minegayama's summit. His arms are stretched out above him. You're sitting beside him and you find yourself smiling fondly at the huge grin he's still sporting. You're thankful that Onoda can't see it because his eyes are closed. You feel kind of embarrassed. You lay down beside Onoda as he lets out a sigh.

"I really missed riding with you, Makishima-san." His eyes are open and he's looking at you now. You think he might be blushing. "Actually out of all the seniors. I-I think I missed you most of all."

That really surprised you, and you look away. Maybe it's the leftover adrenaline from the race paired with the slurry of emotions that came with it, but something possesses you and you reach up to cover Onoda's hand with your own. You give it a light squeeze, hoping it conveys the sentiment of "me too" because you can't seem to get the words out.

Onoda just tightens his hand around yours and says, "It looks like it might rain. Would you like to come over for some lunch?"

"Sure," you reply.

Soon you're sitting in Onoda's room while he helps his mother clean up lunch. You try to help too but Onoda insists that he'd do it and tells you to pick out a movie or something that you both can watch. You try to find something, you really do, but all he has is anime titles and you're kind of lost. So you decide to wait and have Onoda pick something.

"Did you find something?" Onoda asks as he enters his room.

"Ah no. I'm not really sure what I'm doing," you admit. "You can pick for me."

He kneels down and beings to look though his collection.

"Hmm how about this one," he suggest, pulling out the case. "It's about a kid who gains these psychic powers and—oh! Your bag!"

"What?" you ask turning around too look at your bag which you set down behind you when came into the room, "my bag?"

"You're using the straps I gave you! I just noticed!"

"Oh yeah," you say running your fingers through the cluster of three spiders hanging from your bag. "I didn't put all of them on because that would be too much, but they're pretty cool looking."

"I didn't know you liked them, really," Onoda says sheepishly.

You sigh and ruffle his hair affectionately. "Of course I liked them. You put a lot of thought into it and it was a nice gift."

Onoda then smiles so brightly you think you might go blind if you look at him any longer and turn toward his television.

"Let's start the movie, okay?"

"Hey Onoda," you hedge about half way through the movie. There's a lull in the action and it seems like a good time to bring up something that's been on your mind since Onoda brought up the straps. You don't think you'd have the courage to do it later. When all of his attention is focused on you.

"Do you not like it?" Onoda says turning towards you.

"No, no it's not that. I—I just want to say that I'm sorry… that I left so suddenly and that I never told you anything."

"Makishima-san…"

"It was…really unfair of me as both your_ senpai_ and your friend."

And then his arms are around you giving you tightest hug ever.

"O-oi Onoda…" Your heart's beating fast and lodged so far up your throat you think you're going to be sick.

"Sorry," Onoda says but doesn't loosen his grip either, "I just felt like I had to do that."

"You don't have to apologize," you tsk, finally returning the hug. When you do Onoda shifts so his face is tucked against your shoulder and neck. Your hand travels along his back, while his thumb rubs across the back of your shoulder. It's so intimate, but also very nice. After a minute or two you pull away and continue to watch the movie.

Once the movie is over you feel like it's time for you to leave. You suddenly have a lot to think about. Onoda insists on walking with you down to the road, it's unnecessary, but you enjoy his company nonetheless.

"Hey, Makishima-san," Onoda says as you mount your bike. "P-please don't leave so suddenly again, okay?

You smile, leaning over you place a light kiss to the crown of his head.

"I'll say goodbye to you this time. I promise," you say as you start to bike away, hoping he didn't notice the blush creeping onto your face.


End file.
